A 180-year-old barn is assembled Friday on Nelson Avenue Extension in Malta. Workers lift the third post-and-beam frame.
(ERICA MILLER/emiller@saratogian.com)

MALTA -- Peter Brooks is preserving agriculture the old-fashioned way, one hand-hewn timber at a time.

Two years ago, the Clifton Park resident bought 15 acres of farmland on Nelson Avenue Extension that included an early 19th-century English barn that had fallen into serious disrepair and had to be dismantled.

On Friday, with help from 21st-century technology, Brooks brought the old structure back to life, ensuring its place on the local landscape for decades to come.

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"I'm trying to be as historically accurate as possible," he said.

The structure will be the focal point of his new cut-your-own Christmas tree business, Boulder Brook Farm. He planted the first 500 trees this spring and plans to add similar numbers each year until all available land is under production. It takes eight to 10 years before trees are ready to cut.

"It's not all about selling trees," Brooks said. "I'm trying to create an experience here, where people can start family traditions. All along that's what I've had in mind."

When completed, a portion of the old barn will house a museum-type exhibit in which people can learn about its history and restoration -- a fascinating attraction for customers.

Two-hundred years ago, a barn raising would have taken about 25 men, straining to accomplish the back-breaking job. Posts and beams would be joined on the ground and then lifted into place.

The same assembly process took place Friday, but a huge crane did the heavy lifting in a matter of hours.

Over the next few weeks, the skeletal-like frame will be enclosed and the barn's original appearance fully restored. A Moreau firm, The Old Barn Co., which specializes in such restorations, is handling the effort. Owner Jim Sweet said he believes Brooks' barn was originally built in the 1830s, based on its construction style. The big pine and hemlock posts and beams are about 180 years old and could last another century or more so long as there's a good roof overhead, with proper care and maintenance.

"It's going to outlast any of us," Sweet said.

Brooks' only modern concession is a concrete floor, which early settlers wouldn't have used.

"They just put logs on the ground and started building up," he said. "But that allowed moisture to get in. This barn isn't going to have that problem."

However, the concrete won't be visible to visitors; he is going to cover it with wooden planking, to give it an old-style look.

Brooks is even incorporating large barn doors that swing out, instead of the sliding box-car style that came along later and are easier to open when there's two feet of snow on the ground. Hinges will be wrought iron and the barn will have white pine siding with a cedar shake roof.

"I've built a stone wall along the road and there are white gates at the main entrance," Brooks said. "It's a real Currier & Ives scene."

A Connecticut native, Brooks has a degree in natural resources from Cornell University's agriculture school. He earned a master's degree in landscape architecture and regional planning from the University of Pennsylvania and previously worked for the Audubon Society as a teaching naturalist, followed by the state Department of Environmental Conservation's Division of Lands and Forests.

Then his career took a 180-degree turn and today he's a Merrill-Lynch financial adviser.

"But I've always wanted to have a farm. I like the term, 'Renaissance man,' " Brooks said, smiling. "I've had a lot of fun doing this."